Ball Don't Lie

A pair of ankle surgeries and the persistent injuries that followed prevented Alex Len from hitting the ground running in his first NBA season. The surprising success of the Phoenix Suns — sparked in part by guards Goran Dragic and Eric Bledsoe making beautiful music in concert with bigs Channing Frye, Miles Plumlee, and twins Markieff Morris and Marcus Morris — has made it difficult for the 20-year-old 7-footer to crack first-year head coach Jeff Hornacek's rotation. When Len has found the floor of late, though, he's been supplementing his attempt to make a statement with his play by making one with his footwear:

Political unrest in Ukraine has spanned several months, stemming from President Viktor Yanukovych's government deciding in November 2013 to reject an accord that would have strengthened ties between the Ukraine and the European Union in favor of establishing stronger ties with Russia. Thousands of Ukrainians, viewing this development as a step away from progress that would draw the nation closer to its Soviet past, flocked to the capital city of Kiev to protest.

And watching all this unfold from more than 6,000 miles away is Len, a 20-year-old kid who doesn't really know what to make of his homeland burning, but can't put it out of his mind, so he puts it on his shoes. From Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic:

“If you watch American news, they say one thing. If you watch Ukrainian news, they say another thing. In my home, I have a Russian channel and they say a totally different thing. It’s politics, so I don’t know what’s really going on. I pray for Ukraine. I want peace.”